Instrumental Solo,Piano - Level 3 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1228118

Composed by Various and compiled by Michael Praetorius (1612). Arranged by Colin Kirkpatrick. Instructional,Renaissance. Score and individual part. 17 pages. Colin Kirkpatrick Publications #824216. Published by Colin Kirkpatrick Publications (A0.1228118).

Dances from Terpsichore (Michael Praetorius)

These are eleven of the most well-known dances of the Renaissance, selected from the famous collection entitled Terpsichore, pubished in 1612 by Michael Praetorius. They are sure to be a welcome addition to the recorder player's repertoire. The notes of the recorder part have been kept well within the intermediate range.

By the time Michael Praetorius published his dance collection, he was one of the most famous musicians in Germany. The name is pronounced “terp-SI-cory� and rhymes with the word “hickory�. The original publication consisted of 312 dances in four, five and six parts. Although the dances were probably conceived for string ensemble Praetorius was well aware that in practice, they would be played by any instruments that happened to be available.

These arrangements for recorder (or recorders) and keyboard are based on the original 1612 publication. The music sounds more authentic using a harpsichord rather than a piano, or the harpsichord sound of a digital keyboard. The keyboard part may be interpreted quite freely with ornamentation added as appropriate. During the Renaissance, it was common practice to combine separate dances to create something of more substantial duration. A similar practice is used in these arrangements which are as follows: 1. Three Gavottes; 2. Two Ballets; 3. Two Bourées; 4. Two Courantes and 5. Two Voltas. The audio sample contains numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5.